"Aside from the Punic Wars, which I was too young for, I have been blamed for everything, " Mr. Andreotti once said.

WSJ: Italy's Seven-Time Premier Andreotti Dies at 94

The Romans were severely tested in the three Punic wars but their struggles against a worthy, if barbaric and perfidious, enemy were a necessary feature of their emergence as the dominant power.

ECONOMIST: Myth and the making of history